Chronic lack of sleep and use of sleep-aid medications have long been connected to health problems.
However, a recent study by researchers at Penn State and Taipei Medical University in Taiwan narrows identified another serious downside.
After analyzing five years of data on more than 6,700 people in the U.S. who were 65 or older, scientists found that insomnia and the use of sleep medication are associated with a higher risk of developing a disability within one year.
This relationship is incremental: The longer a person experienced insomnia symptoms, the greater their risk of developing a disability that affected their mobility of ability to take care of themselves in daily life. People who regularly experienced symptoms and used sleep medications had the highest risk.
Orfeu Buxton, co-author of the study, says:
“When we evaluated the relationships between disability, insomnia and sleep medication use, we found that as older people used more sleep medication or experienced more insomnia symptoms, they moved more rapidly towards greater disability.”
Disability was determined through a questionnaire on activities for self-care (dressing, eating, toileting and showering) and mobility (getting out of bed, moving around indoors and going outside). Each activity was scored on a numbered scale, with one point for “fully able,” two for “vulnerable” and four for needing “assistance,” with higher scores signaling greater disability.
Researchers considered an increase of two or more points in the overall score to be a clinically meaningful change in mobility or self-care.
The researchers also say these findings highlight the importance of properly treating insomnia. One safe, effective treatment for it is cognitive behavioral therapy — which helps identify and change behavior and thought patterns.
Need tips on how you can try to get a better night’s sleep naturally? Learn some simple hacks in “7 Sleep Tricks That Actually Work.”
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